Facts About the Importance of Family Meal Time
The average parent spends 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their children. (A.C. Nielsen Co.)
Family dinners are more important than play, story time and other family events in the development of vocabulary of younger children. (Harvard Research, 1996)
- Frequent family meals are associated with a lower risk of smoking, drinking and using drugs; with a lower incidence of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts; and with better grades in 11 to 18 year olds. (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2004.)
-
Adolescent girls who have frequent
family meals, and a positive
atmosphere during those meals, are
less likely to have eating disorders.
(University of Minnesota, 2004)
-The statistics are clear: Kids who dine with the folks are healthier, happier and better students, which is why a dying tradition is coming back Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1200760,00.html#ixzz0bwzzbZRz
"One of the simplest and most effective ways for parents to be engaged in their teens' lives is by having frequent family dinners," says Joseph Califano Jr., chairman and president of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA). Read more: http://children.webmd.com/guide/family-dinners-are-important
